Australian influencers tell their own South Island story

07 Apr 2015

Six Australian social media influencers were given the chance to tell their own South Island story when Tourism New Zealand hosted them on a journey through two of the South's 'Great Journeys' in March.

Supporting the 'Every day a different journey' campaign, which was launched in February, the popular Australian influencers got to experience two of the five itineraries featured on newzealand.com, sharing their stories with a combined total of more than 700,000 fans along the way.

Tourism New Zealand's General Manager Australia, Tony Saunders, says the aim of the visit was to break down some of the barriers to booking a holiday across the ditch, identified through Tourism New Zealand's research, by showing a targeted Australian audience the range of experiences on offer all within such close proximity of one another.

"We want Australians to know that New Zealand is easy to get around and offers plenty of travel experiences that they won't get at home, and which are quite unique to New Zealand."

The group posted throughout their trip with an average of just under 4,000 likes per post generating more than $850,000 worth of advertising value.

Tourism New Zealand's research shows that Independent Professionals in Australia use social media to help inform them when they make decisions about holiday destinations. In fact, for many social media is their first source of travel information

"Leveraging the existing social media networks of our influencers has added another layer to our campaign because we have been able to showcase New Zealand's amazing scenery while also gaining advocacy for New Zealand as a holiday destination and for the authentic experiences on offer here.

"Not only have we been able to deliver high quality, inspiring imagery to a large and highly engaged audience through our influencers' social media channels, we have also gained some amazing imagery that we can use in our own social channels to further support the campaign."

The six travellers were split into two groups, the first of which travelled through Christchurch, Kaikoura, Marlborough and Hamner Springs, while the second saw Christchurch before travelling through to the West Coast and on to Wanaka and Queenstown.

The social media influencers brought to New Zealand by TNZ's International Media Programme were:

Mark Clinton, a world class photographer and traveller from Sydney, Australia, with more than 95,000 followers on Instagram.

Jewelszee, an established Australian Instagrammer with more than 91,000 followers on Instagram.

William Patino, an award winning Australian landscape photographer and blogger with more than 105,000 followers on Instagram.

Liz Carlson, an American living in Wanaka who is a highly influential blogger with more than 50,000 followers on Instagram.

Johan Lolos, a photographer who gained a loyal Australian following after spending a year touring the country. He has more than 93,000 followers on Instagram.

Pauly Vella, Australia's second biggest Instagrammer with more than 295,000 followers on Instagram.

TNZ's International Media Programme hosted Australian social media influencers in New Zealand for the first time in October 2014 in recognition of the evolving use of social media channels to generate coverage that is trusted by active considerers.